Free home is large enough for a dream

The South Linden home is very small -- a little more than 500 square feet -- and might not be much to look at.

But for Karelyn Sutton, it might as well be a mansion.

The South Linden home is very small -- a little more than 500 square feet -- and might not be much to look at.

But for Karelyn Sutton, it might as well be a mansion.

"At this point, it would be everything for my kids -- that's all that matters," she said.

Sutton finds out today that the Lexington Avenue home is hers.

The price: free.

The mother of two was among about 100 central Ohioans who entered a contest to win the house from the Stone Equity Group, a California company that buys and sells foreclosed homes. At a ceremony today, she will be given the keys. (She spoke to The Dispatch last night before learning she had won.)

The company asked participants to explain why they wanted the home. What the company received were tales of homelessness, abuse and desperation.

Stone Equity President Joshua Host, who arrived in Columbus last night for the giveaway, said the company sought a responsible, needy family for the home.

"The first thing we're looking for is a family that has good values," he said. "We don't want to put someone in a neighborhood that will add a bad element, someone who will bring drugs or a criminal element. We want someone with a good, solid work ethic but has run into some bumps along the way."

Sutton, 32, entered the contest after separating from her husband, whom she met a decade ago in her native Nicaragua while he was in the U.S. military. She said her husband kept their Hilliard home and their belongings (including her clothes), leaving no place for her and her children, ages 9 and 7.

"I'm just out on the streets with my kids," she said. "A friend has given us a room to be in, but my husband totally doesn't allow us to get close to the house."

She said her friend's family is willing to let her stay, but the house is crowded and Sutton wants a place of her own.

"I've been desperate, and all doors have been closed for me," she said. "I don't have any family. It's just my kids and me. I have no support of any kind. I called some shelters" but had no luck.

Sutton said she has worked two years for a car dealership, clearing car titles, and that the money she earns is enough to maintain a home but not to cover a mortgage.

She noticed the contest while searching online apartment ads.

"I saw this entry for a giveaway home," she said. "I thought it was a bogus thing, a time-sharing thing or something, but I gave it a try."

The home, built in 1943, sits in a neighborhood of similar homes -- some boarded up, some in pristine condition.

Stone Equity acquired the property in March for $1,334, one of a dozen foreclosed homes the company bought in the spring and one of 17 the company owns in Franklin County, according to the county auditor.

The auditor values the Lexington Avenue house at $38,500, the amount the home fetched in its last conventional sale, in February 2007. Annual taxes are $701.

After repairing the homes, Stone Equity sells them to investors, who in turn sell them to tenants. Host said a crew painted the Lexington Avenue home, replaced its carpet and water heater, added a second bedroom and performed other repairs.

He acknowledged that the home is smaller than the company prefers, but he dismissed the notion that the giveaway is just an easy way to unload a home the company doesn't want.

"If that was our whole purpose, we'd do it very differently," he said. "I could just as easily keep the property and rent it out for $500."

Instead, the company decided to offer it free as part of the annual "Make a Difference Day" today.

Last December, the company sponsored a similar contest for an Akron home, but chose to advertise this one more because of "Make a Difference," Host said.

Tania Leeatoa, assistant director of the Columbus Urban League's housing department, wasn't surprised by the interest in the home.

"Sure, there's an audience for this," she said.

Many people who would like to buy homes can't, Leeatoa said, because of the tighter lending and down-payment standards these days.

Besides, she added, an occupied house beats an empty one.

"That's deteriorating the neighborhood as it is -- it brings crime, graffiti. A house is to be lived in. I think this is a great thing."

jweiker@dispatch.com

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